Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 16, 1859
SAINTS' INHERITANCE.
By J. N. Loughborough
"Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth."Matt. v, 5.
( Continued. )
CONDITION OF THE EARTH DURING THE THOUSAND YEARS.
A query doubtless arises in the mind of the reader: If the reign of a thousand years is in heaven, and the kingdom is not established on earth till after that period, what is the condition of the earth during the thousand years? Whatever condition it is placed in at the commencement of that period, must be its condition to the close, unless we have evidence to the contrary. We read in Isa. xxiv, 1: "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof." Verse 3. "The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word." Verses 5, 6. "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left."
But, says one, it cannot be that this text proves the entire desolation of the earth; for there are "few men left." It does not say there are a few men left on the earth, but the testimony is that the "Lord maketh the earth EMPTY." "The land shall be utterly emptied," &c. Then these few men left, are not on earth. We suppose those who are left are the saints, who, we have already shown, will go to heaven with Jesus after his second advent.
Jeremiah describes [Jer. iv, 23–27] the state of things after the earth is turned upside down: "I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." The Lord will not make a full end, for the good reason that the earth is to be restored, and then it will be given to man as his inheritance. The quotation above shows as desolate a condition of the earth, as when God first spoke it into existence. This desolation is in the day of the Lord, and as there is no proof that there is a man on earth again till the end of the thousand years, our position is that it is utterly emptied during that period.
We read in Zeph. i, 2, 3: "I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling-blocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord." By reading verse 7, we learn when this is to be. "Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests." In Rev. xix, 17 we read of "an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come, and gather yourselves unto the supper of the great God." This is probably the sacrifice and guests to which the prophet refers.
In Isa. xiii, 9, we read: "Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." The day of the Lord will desolate the land: so there are no mortal nations for the saints to reign over. The wicked dead have no resurrection till the end of the thousand years; and as the reign of the saints is with Christ, the earth must be desolate during the thousand years.
At the end of that period, as recorded by Zechariah, [chap. xiv.,] Christ's feet will stand on the mount of Olives, and the mount of Olives will cleave half toward one sea, and half toward the other, and there will be formed a mighty plain. Upon that plain we understand that the city, New Jerusalem, comes down. The wicked are then resurrected, [Rev. xx.,] Satan goes out to deceive them, they gather around the camp of the saints, and the beloved city, and fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. That fire which burns up the wicked, burns up the works of the Devil which are in the earth. By that fire the mountains are melted and run down like wax, and thus the deep caverns of earth are filled. The curse is forever swept from the earth, and when the fires of that day have subsided, the earth will stand forth in its restored state, beautiful and glorious, and will become the everlasting abode of the saints of God—the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness,
which Peter says we look for according to God's promise. In noticing this promise we shall endeavor to give a26
DESCRIPTION OF THE KINGDOM.
Human language is hardly adequate for the task, to set forth the glories of the better land; for, as Paul says, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him; but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." While here, as he says, "we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face." As a person looking through a darkened glass at the broad sun may get a correct outline of its disc, and yet its resplendent glory is hid, so we, by giving heed to those things which God has "revealed by his Spirit," may get an outline of that glorious kingdom, and yet not comprehend the glory which can be better felt than told.
Peter says, according to God's promise "we look for new heavens and a new earth." This promise is recorded in Isa. lxv. Peter, as we have before shown, reasons from this promise that the present heavens and earth are to be melted, and the works therein (dross) to be burned up. David is probably speaking of the same [Ps. cii, 26] when he says: "Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed."
Peter, according to his testimony recorded in Acts iii, 21, looks forward to the time when Christ shall come to accomplish this work, and calls it "The times of restitution." John, while receiving his testimony on the isle of Patmos, heard a voice from Him which sat upon the throne, which said, "Behold I make all things new;" (not all new things.) David doubtless had his mind on the same point when he penned the testimony of Ps. civ, 30, where he speaks of the Lord's "renewing the face of the earth."
But we will pass these points to notice Isaiah's testimony. He says, "For behold I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." Isa. lxv, 17. Here is the very promise Peter calls our attention to. "And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Verse 19. This agrees with John's view of the matter, recorded in Rev. xxi, 4. "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Some read this as though it meant, literally, as expressed by the poet,
"His own soft hand shall wipe the tears
From every weeping eye."
and the people still be left with sadness in their hearts. Not so: "What God doeth, he doeth it forever." How does the Lord wipe away tears? We answer, By removing forever from among his people every cause of grief. When Christ tells us [Rev. xxi, 4] that God shall wipe away all tears, he assigns the reason, "And there shall be no more death, neither shall there be any more pain." Yes,
"Pains and groans and griefs and fears,
And death itself shall die."
Verse 20. "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed." There have, in times past, been many speculative notions advanced on the above text,
in order to produce a harmony between it and other testimonies which speak of the same time, (the new-earth state,) as one in which there is to be no death. The first clause of the above verse, shows that there will "be no more thence," from the time the new-earth state is brought in, "an infant of days," (a short-lived child,) "or an old man who hath not filled his days," (premature old age.) All will eternally glow with the vigor of youth. The latter clause of the verse speaks of death, and cannot therefore apply to the new earth, for of the new earth state, John says: "There shall be no more death." If we abide by the rendering of King James' version, it must apply to what transpires just as that state is ushered in. The sinner, although he be an hundred years old, is accursed: Not permitted to enter the land, and dies a child, compared to the endless life those are to enjoy who live in the new earth state.
Some writers have adopted on this text, the reading given by Paganini, which is, "There shall be no more carried out thence to burial, an infant of days, or a youth, or an old man who hath not filled his days; for the man of a hundred years shall be as a youth." This rendering of the above text, certainly produces a harmony, and must be the idea designed to be conveyed, if the 20th verse is to be applied after the new-earth state is brought in.
"And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat." Verses 21, 22. Some object, and say, can it be that the saints will build and plant in the new earth? It says so. Where will you apply the testimony, if you attempt to refer it to the present state? Where is the man of whom it can be said that he shall not build, and another inhabit. Men here spend their whole lives, fitting up an inheritance to their taste, and just as they pronounce it fitted to their mind, they find themselves old men, die, and leave it to others.
"For as the days of a tree are the days of my people; and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." Verse 22. As the days of what tree? I reply the tree of life; and if that be the tree referred to, then they will live forever; for God drove Adam out of the garden, lest he should put forth his hand and "eat of the tree of life and live forever." See Gen. iii. This reminds me of another testimony, in which the Lord says: "With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." Ps. xci, 16. A query arises here, namely: How long a life would it require to satisfy a man? If a man's body was racked with disease, and his life made bitter by disappointment and sorrow, he might perhaps come to a point where he could say, I have lived long enough, I want to die; but if he was surrounded with everything that tended to his comfort and happiness, in a state where there was no death, no sorrow, no pain, no tears, would he be satisfied with anything short of eternal life? I think not.
Verses 23, 24, show God's willingness to answer and do for his people, and that in that time the labor of their hands shall prosper and not be brought forth for trouble. Verse 25. "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's meat." This can only apply in a state where the ferocious dispositions of the wolf and lion have been changed. But, says one, can the above apply in the kingdom of God? Are the saints to eat there? Yes. Christ ate after his resurrection, [Luke xxiv, 42, 43.] If Christ ate why may not the saints? They are to be like him. See 1 John iii, 1, 2; Phil. iii, 21. Angels eat.
They appeared to Lot, and ate of the food he prepared. Gen. xix, 3. David says of the Israelites: "Man did eat angels' food." Ps. lxxviii, 25. The resurrected saints are to be as the angels. Luke xx, 36. But Christ has declared that they will eat in the kingdom: "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke xxii, 29, 30. Again Christ says: "Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." Luke xii, 37.
"But," you say, "I did not think there were to be beasts in the kingdom of God." If the kingdom of God is to be a restitution to the primeval state, there will be beasts there. In Eden the Lord gave man "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth." Gen. i, 26. And Micah testifies concerning Christ, [Chap. iv, 8,] "And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion." If the first dominion comes to Christ, then he will have dominion over beasts as well as the earth and man. That the dominion which is to be given to Christ, is the dominion of the earth, is confirmed by David's testimony, [Ps. lxxii, 8:] "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." David's testimony also shows that there will be beasts in the "renewed" state. In Ps. civ, 29, 30, after speaking of beasts, &c., he says: "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth."
( To be Continued. )
CHRISTIAN COMMUNION.
"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Words of Jesus.
Joyfully, joyfully, we will recline,
Jesus, our Lord, on that promise of thine:
"Where two or three shall together repair,
Trusting my promise to meet them in prayer,
I will be with them—my spirit impart—
I will give comfort to each waiting heart."
Joyfully, joyfully, we will recline,
Jesus, our Lord, on that promise of thine!
Peacefully, calmly, we gather to pray,
Resting at eve from the toils of the day;
Though we are wayward, oh wilt thou not guide?
Saviour, with thee we would ever abide!
Hearer of prayer and inspirer art thou!
Meet us while humbly before thee we bow!
Peacefully, calmly, we gather to pray,
Resting at eve from the toils of the day!
Pilgrims and strangers! Oh hear while we pray—
Hear us, and send us not empty away!
"Faint yet pursuing," our watchword shall be—
Nearer, dear Saviour, still nearer to thee!
Grant us thy presence—in thee we confide;
Hast thou not promised to lead and to guide?
Joyfully, joyfully, we will recline,
Jesus, our Lord, on that promise of thine!—Sel.
Power to Forgive Sins.
“WITH an absolute God,” says Luther, “I can have nothing to do.” But God is in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing unto them their trespasses. If sinners are pardoned, it is in a way to impress upon them a sense of the greatness of the favor, that they may ever afterwards avoid sin, and have a lasting sense of obligation. In saving men, God glorifies the riches of his grace, and thus attaches them to his service by strong and tender ties. If they are forgiven, it is by him who died in their stead—pardon is extended to them by the hand that was once nailed to the accursed tree; they are justified by a righteousness wrought out by the perfect obedience and infinite suffering of the Son of God. The forgiven sinner may never be again brought into condemnation, for there goes along with this sense of security, an awe, created by the manner in which pardon is procured, which will lead to reverence and duty. There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. We are ransomed at a great price; our obligations are great to love and serve our divine Redeemer. Had we a thousand lives they ought all to be devoted to him.
Who are the subjects of forgiveness? Those who truly repent and believe. Faith is indispensable to forgiveness. According to our views of the Son of God will be the treatment we receive from the hand of the Lawgiver and Judge of the world. Repentance is inseparable from faith.
In the commission given to the first preachers, repentance precedes remission of sins. It would be inconsistent with our ideas of justice and of good government to pardon the impenitent, to show marks of favor to enemies of order—to clear the guilty. Where there is true faith in Christ there will be godly sorrow for sin. Repentance has been beautifully called the tear in the eye of faith. They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced, and mourn. None, therefore, can hope to be forgiven who do not turn from their sins unto God.
How important that we entertain right views of Christ’s character! “The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son.” The relations of the Lord Jesus Christ both to God and man are peculiar. Being the Son of God, he is especially interested in all that concerns the divine glory; he is both inclined and bound to sustain the divine government. Being the Son of man, he came to seek and to save that which was lost. He took upon him our nature, and, therefore, is anxious to raise it up from the ruin of apostasy. He is at once, the friend of God, and the friend of man. He has deep sympathy for sinners. He can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. While he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners, he never turned away from human suffering; he allowed all to approach him—the outcast and the vile. He listened to the cry of the poor blind mendicant. In the very act of exercising mercy, he vindicates the claims of justice; he is at once “the sinner’s friend and sin’s eternal foe.”
What greater encouragement can any have to repent and turn to God than to know that Jesus Christ has the power to forgive sins? He has lived in this world of sin and sorrow; he is full of tenderness; he invites the weary and heavy laden to come to him and rest. Let every reader of these lines who has tasted of his love urge the impenitent to flee to him by faith.—Evangelist.
Experimental Evidence.
From curiosity, a lawyer entered a meeting for the relation of christian experience, and took notes. But so impressed was he, that at the close he rose and said, "My friends, I hold in my hands the testimony of no less than sixty persons, who have spoken here this morning, who all testify with one27consent that there is a Divine reality in religion, they having experienced its power in their own hearts. Many of those persons I know. Their words would be received in any court of justice. Lie they would not, I know; and mistaken they cannot all be. I have hitherto been skeptical in relation to these matters. I now tell you that I am fully convinced of the truth, and that I intend to lead a new life. Will you pray for me?"—Sel.
The Magnitude of Sin.
By Adolphe Monod
THE Scriptures everywhere present to our view sin in its true deformity. Not one of us can have a just idea of the guilt and enormity of sin in the sight of God. We have been so accustomed to live in the polluted atmosphere of this world, which drinks in iniquity as water and eats it as bread, that we cannot discern the sin which everywhere so completely surrounds us. My experience is briefly this. We find in the Bible these words: “We were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.” For a long time I could not admit this declaration, it appeared to me so evidently an exaggeration; and even after God had by his grace turned my heart towards him, it was long before I could completely accept it. And even now, I cannot comprehend it to the full, though convinced that it is perfectly true; and if I do not realize it in my experience, the fault is entirely mine. It was this that made me comprehend the necessity of a witness existing before us, without us, and above us. I accept this declaration as coming from God, because I find it in his word, and I pray that he may reveal to me the full meaning of it by his Holy Spirit. I have, by the grace of God, attained (I do not say in a short space of time—these things do not advance so rapidly—but in an interval of several years) to a clearer view of this doctrine, and to a deeper feeling of its truth in my own heart; and I am sure that I shall some day acknowledge it to be the most faithful resemblance that has ever been traced of my heart—I mean of my natural, unregenerated heart. Let us pray that God would gradually more and more reveal to us our state of sin, though only by degrees; for he is well aware that if our knowledge of our own condition were to increase more rapidly than our knowledge of his mercy, we should fall into despair.—Adolphe Monod.
Faithfulness of Friends.
ON one occasion, the excellent Charles Simeon was summoned to the bed of a dying brother. Entering the room, his relative extended his hand to him, and with deep emotion said,
“I am dying, and you never warned me of the state I was in, and of the danger to which I was exposed from neglecting the salvation of my soul?”
“Nay, my brother,” replied Mr. Simeon, “I took every reasonable opportunity of bringing the subject of religion before your mind and frequently alluded to it in my letters.”
“Yes,” exclaimed the dying man, “you did; but that was not enough. You never came to me, closed the door and took me by the collar of my coat, and told me that I was unconverted, and that, if I died in that state, I should be lost. And now I am dying, and but for God’s grace, I might have been forever undone.”
It is said that this affecting scene made a lasting impression on Mr. Simeon’s mind.—Sel.
Deeds
By Carlyle
DEEDS.—Deeds are greater than words. Deeds have such a life, mute but undeniable, and grow as living trees and fruit-trees do. They people the vacuity of time, and make it green and worthy. Why should the oak prove logically that it ought to grow and will grow? Plant it, try it; what gifts of diligent, judicious assimilation and secretion it has, of progress and resistance, of force to grow, will then declare themselves.—Carlyle.
The London Times on the War.
THE London Times of the 11th has the following interesting estimate of the magnitude of the impending struggle in Italy.
"The brilliant campaigns of Napoleon's youth were made at the head of a few thousand men. Marengo itself was gained by 28,000, but the war of 1805 actively employed about 150,000 French, while in the campaigns of Wagram, Moscow and Leipzig we have incomparably larger armies brought into the field on both sides.—Now the war of 1859 begins on the colossal scale of the latter Empire, and the armies employed may attain dimensions such as no single state has hitherto been capable of producing. Presuming the struggle to be confined to France and Austria, and to the field of northern Italy, we shall have the spectacle of a combat in closed lists such as the world has never before witnessed. If both the antagonists fight well and stubbornly the conflict will be as interesting to the military critic as grievous to the philanthropist.
"Both France and Austria will be able to march almost all their enormous forces to the seat of war. Germany will, while the war is confined to Italy, be sufficiently the ally of Austria to guaranty her from any attack in the rear from Russia, but not sufficiently to disturb France by any demonstrations on the Rhine. It may be said that for some time to come at least, the influence of Germany will have the effect of leaving both sides free to use all their strength against each other. That they will use it there is no doubt."
"The seat of war adjoins the territory of each; railways and steamers transport their troops easily, and most of the long marches which enfeebled and diminished armies in the days of Napoleon will be avoided. Enormous masses of armed men can be taken to the country they are to fight in as comfortably as if they were merely making a change of quarters. With this facility of transport, and this power of using the whole of their great standing armies, we must expect to see two hosts gathered together on the plains of Italy such as no two single States ever yet opposed to each other. The numbers we do not pretend even to guess at. The French are pushing troops over the Alps and loading their ships of war with soldiers for Genoa. The supply of food will be the only limit to the number which can thus be brought into the field.
"The French probably have their information about the Austrian army, as the court of Vienna has its own about French proceedings. But Englishmen are allowed to know little about the matter. There is however, no doubt that the power which sent a quarter of a million of men to Sebastopol within eighteen months will be able to send that number into northern Italy. Considering that the whole of Italy, with 27,000,000 people may shortly be in insurrection, and that Sardinia has some 80,000 troops of her own already, it may be reckoned without exaggeration that more than 300,000 men may in the next two months, be put in a line to drive the Austrians from their carefully chosen and now famous positions in Lombardy. On the other hand Austria can and will no doubt, bring an equal force to the field. She does not want men, for the empire contains 33,000,000 souls, without counting the Italian Provinces. If the Finance Minister can find money to keep 300,000 men on foot in Italy, Gyulai will find work for them all. They will not be men to fight with the spirit and dash of Frenchmen, but they will be fine steady troops, superior in physique to their enemies; they will have all that science has achieved in the way of perfect weapons of destruction, and they will be commanded by officers who know that the eyes of Europe are upon them, and that they must fight now for the very existence of their Empire."
The Weakest Point.
Does not Satan attack us in our weakest point? How he suits his mode of temptation to the disposition of the victim! Are you vain? In how dazzling a lustre will he place the pleasures of this poor world before you! Are you ambitious? In what splendid honor will he make the great things of man appear? Are you discontented? In what exalted light will he place advantages of others before your eyes! Are you jealous? In what strong contrasts will he place the kindness of the person you love toward another than you! Are you of an ill temper? How he will make you think everybody hates you, neglects you, despises you, or intends to slight you! Are you indolent? How wearisome will he make the slightest effort for another's good seem in your eyes! Are you too active? How useless will he make the hour of prayer, and thought, and reading, seem to you!
He tempts us to what our nature is most inclined: he suits his allurements to our inclination. If we are of a quiet temper, he will not tempt us there; if we are only ambitious, he will not care to make us jealous; if we are too active, he will not tempt us to be idle. He knows us well; he drives our inclination to its far extreme.
"Whipping and Prayer."
"I GAVE her a whipping and a prayer in the closet." This remark was made by a Roman Catholic lady concerning her daughter. I was in a meditative mood when I heard it, and while we completed our journey I thought of the true relation of that prayer to the whipping, and I asked, Do all Protestant parents pray when they punish? I remember when a boy in the "old mountain home," that I received the whippings, but I could not remember the prayers. I did not hear God asked to forgive the wrong I had committed, and to aid me to profit by the punishment. I had "the whippings," but not the prayers in the closet. Do not fathers and mothers neglect to offer the latter as often as they give the former? Do not parents, christian parents, punish, not only without prayer, but without even the spirit of prayer?—Zion's Advocate.
Modern Weapons of War
As if in a view of some great struggle like that now approaching, there has been a vast improvement in the kind of missiles used in war. The old-fashioned horse-pistol, calculated to sacrifice the unoffending quadruped on which its discharger was carried, has been superseded by Colt's, or other equine revolvers, and the Minnie rifle will despatch a body of troops almost before they have come into sight. Then, we have the Armstrong gun, the name of whose inventor is appropriate, as this strong arm will carry a ball five miles that will still dance through the enemy's lines at that distance. Though we have spoken of this from a pacific position rather lightly, it is no joke to feel that your emeny can pop you over long before you can see his weapons, unless you use a telescope. Dr. Lardner advertises in the London papers that with the metal arsenium he can poison the air of a camp so that people will die if they remain there, and somebody else proposes to fire balls loaded with assefœdita into the enemy's quarters, which will speedily empty any garison of its troops, provided with the ordinary olfactory proportions.—New Bedford Mercury.
Spiritualism.
By James White
The extent of Spiritualism and its rapid progress may be seen by the statistics taken from the Spiritual Register for 1859 by the New York Tribune.
Total in the United States — 1,284,000
Canada — 40,000
Cuba — 1,000
South America — 15,000
The Eastern Continent — 600,000
Total — 1,940,000
The Register gives the names and addresses of 349 public speakers, and 238 professional mediums.
The Register estimates that there are 1,000 public speakers, 40,000 mediums, public and private; that 500 Spiritual books and pamphlets have been printed.
Compare the above with the statistics for 1858! and it will be seen that there has been an increase of Spiritualists in one year of 302,500. J. W.
Praying and Doing.
As a general rule, God would not have his people pray without some corresponding activity, any more than he would have them act without prayer. He may for a time confine them to one service of petitioning; but it is only till they feel their dependence and become ready in all things to do his will. He says "I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them;" but he will have all the inquiries made in a practical obedient spirit. He says "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. But in all this he requires that they unresistingly, cheerfully, follow his guidance.
When Moses on the shore of the Red Sea, environed with difficulties and threatened with dangers, made his appeal to God for deliverance the answer came in an unexpected form. "Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak to the people that they go forward." When prayer is offered, not unfrequently the first answer consists in a plain indication of something to be done, and the doing of that thing becomes a condition of further light. Success at the throne of grace may be hindered by a single neglected duty. Jacob understood this when threatened with attack by an armed band, and made the best disposition he could for defense before he spent that night of persistent wrestling. He had "power with God," for one reason at least. He was a consistent petitioner; he did not ask God to do what he could do for himself.
Jesus would not raise Lazarus from the grave till the bystanders had taken away the stone. He who will not perform duty when fairly made known, may as well cease praying, for he will pray in vain. Ordinarily, God points out one duty at a time and lays it upon the conscience as primary and paramount, virtually saying, "Do that and then look to me for further illumination." Christ said "if any man will do his will, he shall know."—Dr. Stow's First Things.
The Need of Family Prayer
A family without prayer is like a house without a door, exposed to every danger, and offering an entrance to every evil.
Trusting Promises and Keeping Precepts
He that trusts the promises most firmly, will observe the precepts most cheerfully.
CHARITY.
THERE are those who studiously and persistently violate the law of God, and teach men so, who can and do apply to some of us, the term, brethren. We cannot respond by applying to them the same term; and for this we are subjected to the charge of being bigoted and uncharitable. Is this charge just? Let us see. Those who reject the Sabbath, very well know that the keeping of the Sabbath, even if it is a non-essential as they claim, involves no breach of christian character; they know that the observance of the Sabbath is not an index in us of any lack of love in our hearts to God, or any dislike to christian duties, or any disposition to evade the just requirements of God. Is there any just cause, then, why on this ground they should not apply to us the term, brethren? None at all. But with us the case is not so. If, as we claim, the Sabbath is an essential part of our rule of duty, a vital portion of the law of God, then to violate it, and zealously and incessantly fight against it as they do, does involve a breach of christian character. It does betray on their part an alienation from God, a dislike of christian duty, a desire not to be subject to the law of God; for the carnal heart is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Can we extend to such characters the hand of fellowship? We cannot. There is no breach of christian charity here; and the class above referred to, have no right to endeavor to bring us, on this ground, into an invidious comparison with themselves. The only reason they can extend the hand of fellowship which we cannot return, is because their standard is low, and their moral discipline loose; while we endeavor to maintain just the reverse. And the fact that they can call us brethren, notwithstanding we keep the Sabbath, is but an expression of their inwrought conviction, which every one can but maintain, that there is nothing so bad or heinous, after all in the observance of the Sabbath, even though no law should require it of us in this dispensation. While the course we feel constrained to pursue, is an expression of our sense of the sanctity of the law, and our displeasure at the course of those who live in its open violation. People, then, may call us uncharitable if they will; but we cannot lower the standard.